Heather Dinich cautions angry Alabama fans 'don't hit the panic button yet' after Vanderbilt upset

Alabama‘s 40-35 upset loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday sent shockwaves across the college football landscape and outrage throughout the state of Alabama. The prideful Crimson Tide fan base hasn’t experienced a loss to Vanderbilt since 1984 and not very many games period during the tenure of recently retired head coach Nick Saban.

The frustration from Alabama’s loss may have been best depicted by Crimson Tide fan and regular Paul Finebaum Show caller ‘Legend,’ who went on a passionate, lengthy rant on Monday that Paul Finebaum himself defended.

“He’s actually representative of how Alabama fans feel. This is not an outlier, this isn’t some crazy lunatic that we found in a closet,” Finebaum said Monday on Get Up. “Alabama fans had the highest of highs beating Georgia and now they can’t believe it, and you could have just picked a team in America and they would have been happier losing to Mercer, Georgia State, Slippery Rock, than Vanderbilt. And Legend said it all right there, you just don’t do it.”

For many years, Alabama and Vanderbilt have been at opposite ends of the SEC spectrum both in the standings and from the perspective of fans. And while Saturday’s loss may feel like the sky is falling for the Crimson Tide, ESPN college football insider Heather Dinich made it clear that they shouldn’t worry just yet.

“Everything that Paul said is right, though I beg to differ on the crazy lunatic part,” Dinich joked. “But I will say this, Alabama should not ring the fire alarm yet. Here’s why, this is really important, and you know I look at this through the eyes of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. Head to head results matter tremendously in that room, it’s one of their tiebreakers in their protocol. And I would be shocked if the selection committee would ignore Alabama’s win over Georgia.”

In the four-team College Football Playoff era, Saturday’s loss would have been much more costly for Alabama. But Dinich believes their impressive win over Georgia the previous week speaks much louder than their defeat to the Commodores in the grand scheme of the new 12-team CFP model.

“The AP Poll has them below them, the committee’s not going to do that, not yet,” Dinich explained. “And if you keep that protocol in mind, Alabama’s number three, Georgia’s number four. So don’t hit the panic button yet.”

Alabama dropped from No. 1 to No 7 in the AP Poll following Saturday’s loss two spots below the Bulldogs, still placing them in the College Football Playoff picture in the eyes of the Associated Press. But starting in Week 10, the College Football Playoff Rankings will be released and may look upon the Crimson Tide more favorably. Also giving Alabama more time to keep building up their resume and potentially still position themselves to compete for an SEC title.